Sunday, December 3, 2017

Things that struck me the most with Bracé fashion parades at New York Fashion Week. You hear a lot of talk about using models of different body sizes and shapes and of different races.. but you don't often see it. With the Bracé shows you certainly did. And something else I was not expecting was performances between runway shows; giving the night a bit of a cabaret feel along with the fashion runway experience. I liked that. It kept us all entertained as the next designer readied themselves for their show; along with some of the models who were walking for more than one designer, as you do, change their look - so some entertainment during the break is certainly a good idea. I start out with shots of singer/rapper Xavier who performed before the Finesse UK runway show, then rapper Elijah XIII who entertained us before the Solemates streetwear showcase. So here's the shots, and there are more streetwear designers and performers to come so don't forget to follow Street Fashion Sydney on FacebookTwitter or Instagram.

Friday, December 1, 2017

It's not because it's free because, lets face it, by the time I test the trimmer, photograph myself using it (with some help from Viv), and write the whole thing up; at the $199.00 list price... Well I think Philips and their PR team are doing pretty well out of the deal. So that's not why I accepted the trimmer. I accepted the trimmer because about 4 years ago I came within a hairs breadth of buying one for myself. There are actually three parts to this story. First, why I wanted one. Second, why I didn't buy one. And of course third; now I have one, how did it go with the Phillips 9000? So first.

I am a lazy shaver...
Mostly because until I was in my 30's I had no need at all to shave more than once or twice a week. Those schoolboy dreams of having a fabulous lady slaying beard in my last year at high school, still completely impossible. I just don't have genes for that kind of beard growth. As time moved on I found myself in work environments that did not require me to be very-well-groomed day in day out, so my shaving habits have never been particularly disciplined.

In my 40's.. How did that happen!!!
Don't grow up? Well keep the young attitude but you do keep clocking the years, and as I thinned on top.. my facial hair did start to look like a beard - of sorts - may just be possible at last. So I would let it go for a week at a time, or there abouts. And then when the length became too shaggy; it was a single blade razor followed with twin blade to make a clean finish. More work but it sure saves on clogging razors. My skin is not the best and never has been, lumps bumps, pimples, so cuts and so on have always been a bit of a problem too. I liked the "three day growth" at around a week, it was just a point of how to keep it? Scissors sometimes worked, and if I had let things go too far, were an essential prelude to the one/two blade shave operations.

Maybe I should get a trimmer thing?
So about four years ago I looked into a trimmer. Initially I though I could get some clippers and maybe, you know, do my whole head and just go short all over; and trim my beard too. After visits to a couple of shops it became clear that this was not going to be something that could be done with a single unit. And to be frank, the 'options' seemed a bit confusing to a life long man of the blade. So no-doubt like men everywhere, I promptly moved on and forgot all about it.

Which brings me to now.

Before using the Philips Series 9000 Beard Trimmer

Who's that old guy in the mirror!

When I saw the subject line "A Little TLC (Trimmer Loving Care): Philips Beardtrimmer Series 9000 Trial Opp" in my email I thought, "Oh, this could be nice, I wonder if they want to give me a trimmer? It's been a while since..." And they did want to send me a trimmer to test so I said yes.

I had decided to - grow my face out - and while on assignment for White Caviar Life; do the test and photos in the commodious bathroom of the hotel we were reviewing. The trimmer kit comes with the trimmer, a second fine trimmer head, a plastic clip-over comb for serious beard work, a tinny brush for cleaning, the charger, instructions with IKEA style pictographs of how to use the trimmer and it's accessories. While they are called instructions, and some of us actually try to read them, this means if you are not pictograph savvy you will require giving this some extra attention. The headline here is - to change the metal trimmer blade - push up from under the metal clipper and the attachment will come away, reverse process to replace. Simple when you know how but I did not notice this information during my first read through. The words "push up to unclip" would have come in handy. Everything else is pretty straight forward.

Finishing up a close trim with the Philips Series 9000 Laser Guided Beard Trimmer.

Lets get down to brass tacks. Once I had perused the instructions and the trimmer was charged I was ready to go. The large on off button is just below the easy to use, rotating silver dial which delivers length settings from .04 to 7.0 mm in .05 increments to the 5 mm mark then it's 1 mm steps. I set it to 1.0 mm which was fine for the way I used it above to gain a short beard. This was the first use and I was actually very happy with the results. I was able to tidy up quite well; I even popped out the laser guide - don't shine it in your eye!!! - but for me that is total overkill. A week later I have given the beard trimmer a second go set at 5.0 mm with the unit turned around, going down not up as before in the pic above, and have a longer cut; again happy with the result and it took literally next to no time at all. The 80 minuet run time per charge should last me a long time indeed.

So after years of waiting to try a trimmer did I like it and did it do what I wanted it to? I have to give that a unanimous yes! If you have my kind of beard non-beard and are a lazy shaver, or even if you are not lazy and just want to have that magic X-Days of stubble growth all the time; I can certainly recommend it. I really should have gotten one years ago.